Did you know that Seester and I are Brady-maniacs? We have seen every episode of the Brady Bunch at least 100 times and can tell you which episode it is within the first ten seconds of the show.

Literally, it’s like, you see Bobby walking across the astroturf lawn, and we’re like, “It’s the one where Marcia wants to go out with Doug-Simpson-Big-Man-On-Campus but then the football hits her nose!”

We were so obsessed that, still to this day, whenever the clock says 4:35, that is BRADY BUNCH TIME to me. (It aired every afternoon on TBS at 4:35 pm, and before the days of DVR, it mattered.)

Of course we owned the book Bradymania and read it cover to cover so we could know everything about a TV show that got canceled before our mom was even out of high school.

One interesting bit of Brady trivia in Bradymania was about the episode where Mrs. Brady and Alice are making strawberry preserves. Apparently Mr. Brady was supposed to come in and say, “It smells like strawberry heaven!” But he didn’t say it, because someone (probably Robert Reed because the book also talks about what a grump he was) claimed that strawberries don’t have a smell when they’re cooking.

Well, I disagree.

Although technically you do not bake this pie, some of the strawberries do get cooked, and they do smell like strawberry heaven.

This strawberry pie was my anniversary gift to Hubba Bubba. Since we got married when strawberries were in season (May 31), we had lots of fresh strawberries at our wedding, and our wedding cake was strawberry with buttercream frosting. So on our anniversary, I like to bake something with fresh strawberries to celebrate.

We also celebrated our anniversary by going to dinner in Santa Monica (where we lived at the time we got married).

Since I’d been sick all week and wasn’t sure how I’d be feeling by the weekend, we didn’t bother getting a babysitter. So we brought along a date crasher.

And while our third wheel was so squeaky that we had to buy the couple next to us a round of drinks, we got to go home and devour a slice of strawberry heaven.

Note:Joy says this pie is only as good as the berries you put in it, and since it’s primarily uncooked strawberries, it’s true. So wait until you find the freshest, ripest strawberries to make this one.

1 (9-inch) baked pie shell

6 C strawberries, rinsed, dried, and hulled

1 C sugar

1/4 C cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 C water

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Whipped cream

Pulse 2 Cups of the strawberries in a food processor or blender. Set aside remaining 4 Cups of strawberries.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in water, then stir in the pureed berries. Add lemon juice and butter, and cook the mixture over medium-high heat – stirring constantly – until it reaches a simmer. Cook for about 1 minute.

Spread half of the reserved strawberries into the baked pie shell. Spread half the cooked mixture overtop. Repeat with remaining strawberries and remaining mixture. Shake the pan slightly to coat the berries and to help it settle into the pie crust.

Hey Cathy! Do you have the Joy of Cooking? There’s a recipe in there for mixed berry pie that is really easy and REALLY good. You do bake it (unlike the strawberry pie). Also, Joy of Cooking lists this unbaked recipe for either strawberries or raspberries, so I would say a combination of those would definitely work. I bet the softer berries like strawberries and raspberries work better than blueberries or blackberries for the unbaked version as detailed in this post, but you could certainly give it a try! xo, Hannah